Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has revealed that ten power plants in Nigeria are operating below 10 percent, talking to the infrastructural challenges in the sector.
Adelabu made this statement at the BusinessDay Conference, in Lagos, with the theme: Powering Nigerias Energy Future: Addressing Infrastructural Challenges for Sustainable Energy Development.
He expressed surprise at the under-utilisation of the facilities, which he said have the potential to generate significantly more electricity.
The Minister identified two key factors limiting power generation: low gas supply and unpaid debts. Gas shortages prevent plants from running at full capacity, while unpaid debts owed to Generation Companies, (GenCos), create liquidity issues.
According to Adelabu, the F ederal Government is committed to both enhancing current generating assets and investing in new power plants in a move to address the countrys generation capacity.
In Nigeria, there are 21 electricity generating companies, according to the countrys system operator grid data portal, out of which, 13 are gas-powered, four are hydro-powered, two are steam-powered, while two are the hybrid of gas and steam.
Our focus is on harnessing the rich diversity of our natural resources, from hydro to solar and beyond. Recently, generation capacity to the grid has been expanded with the addition of a 700 mega-watts (MWs) newly-commissioned Zungeru hydro-power plant.
We have also secured Presidential approval to defray legacy debts to gas companies, to allow efficient gas supply to the power sector going forward and a payment mechanism to address GenCos’ debts, in order to ensure necessary maintenance is resolved and evacuation capacity optimisation.
With this effort, we aim to not only increase our generation capacity, but also improve the efficiency and reliability of our power supply, he added.
